La fille qui peut voir les fantômes
by Snavej
Summary: Lin did not think he would have minded quite so much if this had been the first time he'd been mistaken for someone else's parent. But why else would the child have followed him? [Hints of Linboard, one-shot!]


Lin did not think he would have minded quite so much if this had been the first time he'd been mistaken for someone else's parent. But why else would the child have followed him? It had not been until he'd arrived back in the office after his lunch break that he'd even noticed the small child had been following him. Yet it was inescapable that one had.

Lin supposed the child was female, considering she was wearing a red dress with six buttons down the front and had long curly brown hair. It struck him that the child was not of Asian descent, though beyond that he had no clue.

"Lin," Noll said from the doorway to his personal office. "Why is there a small child here?"

"I don't know," Lin replied honestly. "She followed me. I did not realise."

They both looked from each other to the child. She did not appear unhappy. If anything, she was quite content. Her eyes gazed around the room and she mumbled incoherently to herself.

"What is your name?" Noll asked the child. She looked up, obviously aware she was being spoken to but there was no flicker of understanding in her eyes.

"I do not think she is Japanese."

"Well noticed."

" _What is your name?_ " Lin tried in English and then Chinese, but to no avail. The small child smiled and giggled to herself.

"I could perform psychometry on her," Noll offered.

Lin ignored the offer and knelt down beside the child.

"Lin," he said as he pointed to himself. Then then pointed at the child.

"Amelie," she mumbled. "Je suis Amelie."

"She's French," Noll surmised. "I do not know the language. Take her to the police."

Lin nodded and offered Amelie his hand which she took readily.

"Les fantômes," she mumbled. "Peux-tu voir les fantômes?"

The two men, as neither understood, ignored her utterance.

"I will stay with the office," Noll said. "If only Mai were here, she would be able to amuse the child."

"Yes, that would be preferable," Lin muttered. "I will be back soon. Come on."

The child followed him willingly from the office. It was not a long walk to the nearest Police Box but Lin soon discovered Amelie had very small legs in comparison to his own. Lin contemplated carrying her for a moment but she did not appear tired.

"Les fantômes sont tes amis?"

Lin frowned at the child, trying to remember any single word of French from his singular trip to Paris in his youth. But his brain was refusing to come up with anything beyond 'merci' and 'bonjour'.

Then a memory hit him. Eugene returning from school after his first French lesson. He'd found the word 'oui' amusing due to it's likeness in pronunciation to the English word 'wee'. But 'oui' meant 'yes', didn't it?

"Oui," Lin replied. Amelie beamed.

"J'aime bien tes amis!"

"Oui," Lin repeated, unsure of what else to say.

He could now see the Police Box at the end of the road in the middle of the busy Shibuya streets. Lin renewed his grip on Amelie's hand, so that he did not lose her.

She was not frightened by the large number of people. But Lin supposed she was distracted by the colourful displays both in the shop window's and the screens above them.

But as they walked past a display of a family clothing range, Amelie suddenly asked a question.

"Où est Maman?"

Lin did not need to understand French to recognise the last word. He swore silently, unsure how to comfort the child.

"I don't know," he replied in the most soothing tone he could manage.

"Où est Maman?" Amelie repeated. Her large brown eyes were gazing up at Lin and threatening to fill with tears. "Je veux Maman!"

"We're going to find your mother," Lin said.

They were almost at the Police Box, but Amelie was slowing down. Lin looked pleadingly at the young girl, but she did not seem to get the hint that they had almost reached the people that could help her.

When she stopped, he desperately tried to make English sound more French.

" _Le police aid tu_ ," he said, knowing full well that it was wrong. But French and English both took words from Latin, right? They had to have some similarities, he reasoned.

"Le policier nous aiderait?" Amelie asked.

"Oui?" Lin agreed.

"Où est le policier?"

Lin caught the jist of the question and pointed. Amelie wiped her eyes and started walking again.

Finally they reached the box, where a small policewoman was trying to communicate with a distraught looking tourist.

"Maman!"

Amelie ripped her hand from Lin's and jumped towards a woman that Lin presumed to be her mother.

"Amelie! Dieu merci, tu es saine et sauve!" Amelie's mother cried as she embraced her daughter.

"L'homme a des amis qui sont les fantômes!" Amelie told her mother before pointing at Lin.

"English?" the woman asked Lin hopefully. He guessed she'd had no luck with speaking Japanese to the policewoman.

" _I can speak English,_ " Lin replied.

" _Good, my Japanese is very bad. You found my daughter?"_

Her accent was thick, but Lin was glad he could understand and communicate.

" _Yes, she followed me to my office,_ " he explained.

She proceeded to scold her daughter for running away.

The policewoman was watching, only now understanding the situation.

" _I cannot thank you enough! I told her not to run off and always to stay by my side, but she is young and Japan is so exciting for her,_ " the mother went on. " _My name is Rose._ "

She awkwardly held out a hand for Lin to shake, which he took.

" _Lin."_

" _Thank you, monsieur Lin. I must repay you somehow. Let me buy you a drink!_ " Rose exclaimed. She beamed up at him as if Christmas had come early.

" _Thank you for the offer, but I must return to my keyboard. I mean, I must return to my work._ "

And before the French woman could say anything else, Lin turned and walked hurriedly away.

"Au revoir monsieur Lin! Au revoir fantômes!" he heard Amelie shout behind him. Awkwardly, he turned and waved.

* * *

 **Author's note: So I wrote this fic because the opening line wouldn't leave alone and because Linboard. The actual content was unknowingly inspired by FrenchCirce, who also helped with all of the French in this fic! I wish I could say more, but I am just sat in this cafe shaking my head at myself. I don't even know anymore...**


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